LUX* South Ari Atoll

I was there with my wife to celebrate my 50th birthday (dec 4th) we stayed four night in one of the romantic villa. This place is paradise on earth and has to see. No one can describe how nice it is you have to do it to know it. We spend an incredible vacation with nice people. I would to mentione here Cramer who assist in preparation of the trip, Ria a wonderful lady who assist at arrival and over our stay, Djummah at east market very nice and best photographer I have met and Ahmed Adam the housekeeper always ready to asssist. We had a floating breakfast, sunset view at the beach rouge, and more. Thank Yougo’s having us and my wife was more happy than me trust me. Will do it again Read less

We had an amazing stay October 31-November 7 for a family of 8- celebrating our anniversaries (6 adults and 2 children: 9 years and 3 years old). We stayed in 3 villas (grandma, grandpa, and a child in one; mom, dad, a child in the second one; aunt and uncle in the 3rd one). The weather was great (we had apprehensions about the rain- it rained for about 20 minutes a couple of times and we saw some beautiful rainbows). Kids Club: This is one of the greatest things about the resort! Our girls were asking to go to the kids club daily. Kids club has wonderful staff who is very caring, patient and kind. They had many fun activities and kept children entertained and asking to go back. Our 3 -year old said on the first day we picked her up: “I was happy. I played with friends.” It is a big compliment, as she is not a fan of a daycare. 9-year old enjoyed making pizza, cookies, crafts and the activities at the club, to the point that she was asking not to go to the beach but to play there. Food: amazing! We had full board and we fully enjoyed it- highly recommend, as portions are on the smaller side and the prices are Maldives prices. For breakfast, East market had wonderful views and amazing options, including freshly squeezed juices, smoothies made-to-order and fruit of your choice sliced - there was abundance of breakfast options. Same applied to East market. Beach Rouge was our favorite place both for dinner and for lunch. Whenever we went there, service was great, food quality, variety and presentation was superb! It can easily be in the Michelin guide. Tuna steaks were amazing! Beef medallions melted in your mouth, quinoa salad with avocado was delicious, I can go on and on! Kudos to the manager and the chef! We tried Lobster night - it included great seafood options and all you can eat lobster- delicious! It was worth the extra fee. Villas/Pavillions: Pavillions are spacious and ours was steps away from the water on the sunrise side. The interior is carefully crafted. The villa gives you a feeling of privacy, as there are bushes separating it from others- a piece of personal paradise. The water was shallow and we had to go to swim to the beach by the ice cream shop, at the same time we did not have to worry about our little ones getting in trouble because it was about knee-deep depending on the tide. Service: Overall staff was great. Buggy drivers are superb and always super nice. Housekeeping was good and had a good attention to detail in cleaning. Service at the restaurants varied. Beach Rouge was the best- quick, attentive, accurate with the orders. Senses had issues of being slow and not fully efficient, mixing up orders, charging for the freshly squeezed juice that we did not ask for, etc. House reef snorkeling tours are a must! Very beautiful sea world with interesting fish and things to see- and it was complimentary- nice touch! The only negative experience we had was the Whale Shark Tour. Out of 3.5 hours we were in the water for about 30 minutes. We did not see whale sharks. We saw one turtle and one manta. We wish we were told ahead of time that it will be only 30 minutes in the water. It was a waste of over $1000 for 6 of us. We talked to the tour company personnel and they asked the manager, and we were told that nothing could be done about it, according to the manager. When checking out, we complained to the hotel staff who in turn contacted the tour company manager who refused to do anything about it, motivating it by saying that we were told at the beginning of the excursion on the boat that we would be searching for whales and there was no guarantee to see them, which is understandable. What is not understandable is only 30 minutes snorkeling out of 3.5 hours. Lux personnel was very nice and explained that the excursions company is not theirs. The hotel staff left a positive impression and went an extra mile in customer service (again) allowed for the late check out to make up for the issue, even though it was not their company- thank you for that- it really shows that Lux cared about its guests (unlike the excursions company). Resort grounds: amazing! A lot of space and never felt crowded. It actually made me wonder where all the people were. Very well kept gorgeous resort- with lush, carefully maintained greens. Almost every spot is instagrammable! Activities: Lux is amazing and has many entertainment options. Our kids loved searching for the bottles early in the morning (they found a bottle with a prize of free ice cream and a bottle with a prize of champagne- everyone was happy), to dj, movie nights, wish tree, coffee and spa workshops, etc. We also had amazing massages in the overwater villas and spent some quality relaxation time in the sauna (all guests have access to it if it is not busy). Our girls loved the ice cream cart that gave them free ice cream starting at 1000 and 1600, as it was driving around the resort. Our bubble bath ceremony in our villa was a nice touch on our anniversary day. Photos: we have amazing photos to take home and we did a digital package of 10 photos for about $400. Photos are so beautiful and worth it. Water was amazing- just how you imagine Maldives- turquoise and clear, very calm for swimming. Lux is an amazing place that we would love to return to one day. We made fun family memories and all of us enjoyed it. Our kids loved it! Read less

I had a terrible experience at Lux. I had just visited last week for my babymoon and they gave us a late check-out and gave us a different room as ours wasn't available which was all fine. My husband and I made sure to get to reception early in the morning to complete check-out formalities. Being pregnant, we didn't want any last minute issues or hassle. We were told to be at reception by the staff at 2:45pm as the seaplane was leaving at 3pm. We were also sent a letter saying out luggage would be collected at 2pm which is all fine. My husband and I had packed clothing etc. in separate bags so that we could change after our suitcases had been collected. I get to the room at 2pm to find ALL my belongings had been removed. My handbag and my husband’s bag was taken without our knowledge. These bags are our personal handbags that contained our passports, wallets etc. and we gave no one permission to take these along with the suitcases. There was not one item that was left in the room. When I informed the man at reception over the phone that I had a seaplane leaving at 3pm and ALL my belongings had been taken from my room, he confirmed the bags would be sent back to the room for me to get ready. I had wasted 20 minutes waiting in the room for my bags when I could have instead headed to reception to get my things and get ready. I then get a call from my husband who is chasing for our things at reception and is then being told at reception that our bags cannot be sent to the room due to timing and that we would miss the seaplane if we did not leave on time. Aside from causing an enormous amount of stress to me while I am pregnant, I am stood outside my room in a towel because all my clothes have been taken, and no shoes or slippers because you they loaded every single item of mine into a seaplane without my permission, desperately waiting for a buggy to take me to reception. Our late check out room was on the other side of the island so I couldn't even walk to reception. I was extremely humiliated, brought down to tears then standing in reception without any proper clothes or any footwear begging for my belongings. The staff and manager had zero problem solving capabilities. Rather than helping get my things back, I had to make my way to reception in a towel with no footwear. They did nothing to help. Then to top it all off, the check-out bill contained a 75 dollar charge for snorkelling equipment that we had already returned. Tying to charge us extra during this stressful time is beyond disgraceful. All I was offered was apologies during a time of distress which means absolutely NOTHING. They took zero action to help. While I am hysterically crying by the seaplane, the reception staff who were most unhelpful thought it was appropriate to come to me and offer me a giveaway bracelet and that it was a good time to tell me how precious they are. I did not need a bracelet, I needed a solution to the absolute mess up their team had caused. It is safe to say this experience has completely ruined my perception of this hotel and I will certainly not be back nor would I ever recommend this hotel to anyone which is a great shame considering I had come to this hotel on my babymoon and had gotten engaged there 7 years prior. It's all well and good until a problem occurs and Lux cannot manage or be helpful, especially when they have caused such a mess. Read less

East Market did feed us very well, we did not expect this level. Beach Rouge was likewise very very good. It is yours fault we got some kg extra to bring home. We enjoyed our el bus ride every day, the chaffours were all very frendly and cheerfully talkative. I did forgot my hat somewhere is this island and our lovely host Salwa did find it in no time with a little help of whatsup. We could tell you about the great fish we saw but you know it how it is here! Sun, food and everything! Read less

We arrived at the lux* hotel by the sea plane it was amazing experience when we arrived to the hotel our host her name Mrs. Salwa was waiting for us with joy and she was so professional and friendly she was in contact with us during our stay on WhatsApp from bookings and cancelations and any activities that was happening at that time in the hotel🥰❤️👍🏼 It was my 4 th. Time visiting The Maldives and as for my husband it was his 2nd. Time both of us each time we came new things to experience and nice things to explore🥰❤️👍🏼 My focus on this trip was diving south of the Maldives and it was really breath taking so beautiful under the Indian Ocean so many things to see, the dives was amazing the dive center at the hotel made us discount because we dove most time we spent there they were so helpful and friendly🥰❤️👍🏼 We also loved the variety of restaurants at the resort and the complementary things that they had to offer for their guests🥰❤️👍🏼 We also loved how each day new activities to do and the photo shoots on the property was amazing 🥰❤️👍🏼 Read less